Christmas at Cap's
by Backup Zebo
Summary: The holidays have come to Cap's Bar at last. With no family in the city at Christmas, Steve, Natasha, Tony and co. are throwing their own Christmas Eve get together. Tony Stark. Free alcohol. A karaoke machine full of Christmas songs. It's going to be a fun night... Through the Bottom of a Glass X-Mas Special. Romanogers, Pepperony and WinterShock the only established pairings. R&R


_At Christmas come and make good cheer,_

 _For Christmas comes but once a year._

* * *

 _4.55 PM_

Bucky swore loudly as a pine needle pricked his finger as he hung a decoration of the tall, handsome Christmas tree. He heard Natasha barely conceal a snort and glanced over his shoulder as he descended the ladder. Natasha set a box full of decorations, tinsel and baubles on the bar top and raised the volume of the battered old radio beside the cash register. _'Merry Christmas Everyone'_ boomed out from the speakers, bringing a smile to Bucky's face. It was Christmas Eve and everywhere he went, Thor Odinson seemed to be playing only Christmas music on _Asgard FM._

Every Christmas, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Sam, Clint and a few others had no other family in the city. To get around this, they began meeting at _Cap's_ every Christmas Eve around five and staying there until well past midnight. On this Christmas Eve, Bucky had arrived early to help decorate everything. Sam was busy wrapping tinsel around chairs and Steve was balanced precariously on the bar counter, stapling yet more tinsel onto the cabinets over the bar. Natasha was overseeing it all. Bucky grabbed another few baubles and began hanging them up on the branches.

"Steve, if you fall I won't be able to catch your ass. I really don't want to be crushed today," Natasha said. Steve chuckled heartily as he balanced on the edge of the bar. He glanced down at Natasha as she passed and smiled brightly. She returned the smile as she passed him on her way to close the curtains. With a small smile still playing on her lips, she saw it was beginning to snow. The flakes fell slowly outside as darkness began to descend and the edges of the window were frosted. Natasha decided to close the curtains only halfway and lit the candles on the tables Sam had pushed together in preparation for the Christmas Eve dinner ahead.

"Nat! C'mere, I need a second opinion!" Bucky called out from atop the ladder. Natasha turned away from the window and joined Bucky on the far side of the bar. She heard the slap of the Steve's trainers on the floor as he hopped down from the counter and the sound of the bar hatch lifting to signal Sam's entrance. Bucky was holding an angel treetop in one hand and a golden star in the other. Natasha considered the two decorations for few seconds before picking the twinkling, golden star. Bucky stepped down from the ladder to hand, but suddenly, there was crash and the bottom step of the rickety, old ladder gave way. They all leapt back t the harsh sound, Bucky leaping away the furthest.

Natasha gave a withering look the Steve, Sam and Bucky. Bucky ran a hand through his short, brown hair and shrugged apologetically. Natasha still held her gaze but took the golden star gently from his hand and whirled around to face the other two.

"Boost. Now," she ordered. Steve gave a sly smile and tipped Sam's shoulder. He crouched down and wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulder. Sam heaved a heavy sigh and followed suit. Natasha smiled sweetly and sat on their arms. They stood up and Bucky stood behind her, holding her back lest she fell backwards- which was highly unlikely with Natasha. They shuffled forwards with Natasha directing the proceedings.

"FORWARD! FORWARD! PIVOT! PIVOT! HALT!" she yelled over the Christmas music. Once she was within arm's distance to the tree, she leant forward and carefully placed the top on the tree with ease due to her 6 foot queen's chair. The boys whooped and cheered as the star was placed. Natasha laughed along with them but was rudely interrupted when, suddenly, Steve and Sam jerked their arms into the air. Natasha went flying but Steve caught her with ease. He and the others were laughing uncontrollably as Natasha sulked in Steve's arms.

To lighten her up, he began spinning around madly. Natasha finally laughed, and when they stopped, Steve looked down at her with a smile-which she returned. He inclined his head and kissed her. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. All the while, Sam and Bucky clapped raucously and pretended to cry at the moment.

* * *

 _6.35 PM_

Clint was sitting down at the pushed together tables on the platform of _Cap's_ in his bright purple Christmas sweater. Sam and Maria Hill were sitting sideways in their chairs opposite Clint, locked in conversation. Maria adjusted Sam's Santa hat on his head and Clint smiled into his glass. He could hear Natasha chatting to Pepper Potts, with Tony Stark butting in every now and then. Suddenly, his phone rang. Sam and Maria paused in their conversation to glance sideways at him.

With a sigh, Clint pulled the phone from his trousers and answered lazily.

"Hello?"

" _Clint…hey…"_

Clint sat up straighter before deciding to leave and stand outside during the phone call.

"Everything alright, Jamie? You sound a little bummed out," he said as he pushed open the door. Snow was falling lazily from the sky outside.

" _Uhh… That's because I am. Pietro and Wanda have gone back to Sokovia for the holidays. And well, my flight got cancelled 'cause of Irish freaking weather. So, guess I'm sticking around this year…"_

Clint felt a pang of sympathy for her. Then he had an idea.

"Hey, couple of us are having a party in _Cap's._ Would you-umm- wanna join? BTW, Christmas sweater is under no circumstances optional."

He heard her laugh heartily through the line.

" _Alright, thanks Yank. Means a lot. SHARON, WHERE'S MY FUCKIN' CHRISTMAS SWEAT-"_ Clint decided to hang up the phone before his eardrums burst. Taking one last look at the falling tufts of snow, Clint headed back inside. He was hit by the smell of Christmas scented candles, but exactly what Christmas smelt like, Clint didn't know. Natasha was seated on the bar top, sipping a glass of red wine while chatting to Pepper. Tony and Steve were sitting at the tables, engaged in a conversation of their own. Bucky had joined Sam and Maria and obviously had said something funny as they were all leaning back laughing. Clint picked up his beer and, shrugging his shoulders, he went to join in their conversation. They welcomed him and Bucky stood up to let him through to sit on the bay windowsill.

* * *

 _7.35 PM_

After a while, Natasha stood up on the counter and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. She waved her cell phone.

"WE ARE ORDERING FOOD! WHICH MEANS WE NEED PIZZA TOPPINGS THAT'RE GOOD FOR EVERYONE! ARE CHEESE AND PEPERONI GOOD? AND NO TONY, WE ARE NOT GETTING HAWAIIAN!" Natasha yelled, pointing at a pouting Tony as she finished. They took a quick vote with beer mats and when Steve had finished counting it was decided that cheese and peperoni were indeed good for everyone. Steve then began hurling beer mats back at people. Several Christmas decorations met their end during this time.

Jamie arrived in just as another mat hit the back of Maria's head. There was snow on her hat and jacket and she took of her coat and hung it on the coat rack beside the door. Clint jumped over Bucky's outstretched legs to greet her at the door. She smiled brightly when she saw him. Clint scooped her up in a tight hug. Jamie laughed and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, Clint. Who is this?" Bucky asked from where he stood by the wooden railings of the platform as Clint set Jamie down. Natasha, Steve, Pepper and the rest turned toward the door. Clint moved beside Jamie and gestured toward her.

"This is Jamie. She's from Ireland and her flight got cancelled yesterday. I-uhh- I told her to come over seeing as she didn't have anyone else."

And with that, a queue of sorts began to form as people went to greet Jamie. Bucky and Sam shook her hand, Maria and Pepper followed suit, having only met Jamila Hennessy briefly on a night out. Natasha and Steve hugged her briefly in turn.

"Well, hello again, Irish," Tony said as he swaggered up. Clint gave a sly smile, unbeknownst to him, he did this in synchronisation with Jamie. However, Jamie hid it much better.

"Hey there, Mr. Stark. Nice to see you," she replied politely. Tony smirked and extended his hand.

"Please, call me Tony."

Jamie smiled and shook his hand. The crowd dispersed once again, leaving Clint and Jamie alone at the door.

Her eyes inevitably flitted to his particularly gaudy purple sweater, which was (in his opinion), no worse than the one Steve wore.

"Wow," she said with a laugh. "Go on, give me a twirl."

Clint scowled but happily obliged and whirled around on his heel. Jamie couldn't say much. She had a lovely red number on with a Rudolph whose nose actually light up.

"Your sweater is… hideously gorgeous," he informed her. Jamie smirked and curtseyed slightly.

"Thank you, Clinton," she replied. Suddenly, a bar mat came soaring toward Clint's head. He caught it easily, but Steve had gotten his attention.

"Hey, Barton! Either move or take action!" Steve yelled from across the room, pointing at something near the doorway. Clint heard everyone laugh and Natasha pointing at the sprig of mistletoe Clint had himself hung over the door. He made to shrug it off with a laugh, but Jamie surprised him by standing on her tiptoes and pecking his cheek, her lips were cold from her trip to the bar. She gave him a small smile. Clint cleared his throat before smiling back and led her back to where he had been sitting with Maria and company.

* * *

 _8 PM_

The pizzas were ordered and arrived swiftly enough. Natasha and Tony collected them, with the former using her adept waitress skills to carry the boxes of six large pizzas to the tables that were pushed together. Tony happily paid for the food and slipped the delivery guy a tip that caused his eyes to bulge.

Natasha and Pepper set out the boxes along the table, Steve and Tony carried in boxes of beer and wine bottles, and bags of chips and peanuts from the bar. Eventually, everyone sat down together to begin their 'feast', as Natasha had dubbed it. Tony sat down at the top with Pepper, opposite Natasha and Steve.

There were a few late arrivals just before dinner. Much to Tony's delight, both Rhodey and Bruce Banner showed up as the food was being set up, so they were next to Natasha and Tony, respectively. Bucky was delighted when Darcy traipsed in, she certainly brightened up proceedings.

Maria invited Jamie to sit next to her and Clint sat opposite, next to Sam with Bucky on his other side and Darcy opposite him.

* * *

 _9.25 PM_

Up at the other end of the table, Pepper remarked on Tony's holiday cheer.

"You seem to have embraced the whole Christmas thing wholeheartedly," she said in Tony's ear. He looked at her with a surprised look.

"Why wouldn't I? Christmas time is basically party time!" he said. Pepper saw through it immediately and glared at him as he went for a pizza slice. He saw her and stared back at her as he took a bite out of the slice. Eventually, Tony conceded.

"Alright. Alright. My holidays growing up were kinda…crappy, to put it lightly. I guess since I've already done the whole bad Christmas thing, I should try for the great Christmas thing. Given, that is a little too easy though."

"And why's that?" Pepper asked, sipping a glass of wine. Tony raised an eyebrow with a sly smile.

"You're with me. You're bound to brighten up anything," he said. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Those lines don't work on me," she told him. Tony laughed and pushed his chair back to look at her, whisky tumbler in hand.

"Oh no?" he asked. Pepper shook her head as she took another sip. "Then what did?"

Pepper looked at him over the rim of her glass. "It wasn't the _lines_ or the _money_ or the _suits_ and _fast cars_. It was the guy that had the guts to change direction of a multi-million dollar company, then it was the guy who finally dropped his guard and someone in, let _me_ in."

Tony squirmed. "In my defence, you were the only person that stuck around to be let in, so…there's that."

Pepper laughed and Tony kissed her lightly, before standing on his chair.

He knocked on his glass with a ring he was wearing. Soon, almost everyone was quiet. _**Almost**_.

"Alright, all. I would like to- I would like… Red, would you please shut up?" he asked Natasha. Natasha looked up at Tony and tossed her head to move the pom pom on her Santa hat to the other side.

"Fight me," she threw back. Tony held up his hands.

"I will not do that as I value my life and you scare me sometimes. Now that that's out of the way…" Tony looked out over the table.

"You know what, I don't feel Christmassy enough. Blondie do you mind?" Tony asked Steve, gesturing toward the red tinsel wrapped around the top railing of the curtains on the bay window. Steve shrugged and nodded, prompting Tony to tug it gently away from the bar and wear the red tinsel as a scarf.

There were chuckles from around the tables and Darcy chucked him a Santa hat, which the billionaire donned proudly.

"Now that I feel beautiful, we can get down to business. We're all here tonight because, frankly, we don't have anywhere else. Our families are either gone, not in this city or state, maybe not even this country-" he nodded at Jamie at the end of the table, then looked around at everyone.

"-and we're on our own. But then again, we're actually not because, if we were alone in this city we wouldn't be here tonight. Any of us. We would be at home, or at some party or something, but we'd be lonely. But we _are_ here. We are together. And I don't feel lonely. Does anyone here feel alone?" Tony paused and broke into a smile at the faces peering up at him.

"I didn't think so. Christmas can be a nightmare sometimes, with stores shoving crap at you that you don't need or want, everyone talking about presents and money and shit like that. But that's not what the holidays are about. It's about being present in your life, and being together with the people you love. It's about happiness and making people smile."

"But every year tonight is always awesome. Always. And it's like that because we're together and we drink alcohol and eat pizza. We don't bring presents, we bring Santa hats and wear awful sweaters. It's always the same crowd, and we can count on each other. We even got a new arrival this year- my welcomes to Ireland in the corner. My very longwinded and drawn out point is that; tonight, for one night at least, we all have each other's company to enjoy. We have time to spend tonight, so let's goddamn spend it. Let's get drunk off our backsides and build igloos in the snow. Let's trot out Stevie's karaoke machine and sing Mariah Carey. Or let's get drunk off our backsides, put on Christmas music and dance and talk complete shit." Everyone laughed and nodded, whooping. Tony thrust his tumbler into the air.

"Merry Christmas! Now, where's the mulled wine and eggnog?!"

The small crowd erupted into whoops and cheers as Tony jumped down from the chair he was carefully perched on.

* * *

 _11.17 PM _

A good deal of time had passed since Tony's address and they were well on the way toward the 'drunk' part of his suggestions, though no one was too bad. Yet. They had moved away from the tables and toward the corner of the 'V' shaped bar. Steve had switched on the jukebox and Natasha had produced a jar of dimes and quarters for it. The current song playing was _'All I Want For Christmas'_ by Mariah Carey and everyone was dancing and generally enjoying themselves.

Maria was with Sam and Bucky with Darcy, the rest were enjoying themselves in a large group. Jamie and Clint watched from two bar stools. Clint was drinking his beer but felt Jamie's greenish eyes boring into him. He turned his head to the side to face her.

"What?" he asked pointedly. She pursed her lips.

"You're actually so grumpy. Do you know that? You're unreal at times," Jamie replied quickly. Clint shrugged helplessly.

"What? I didn't say a word?!"

She gave him a withering look. "You are sitting there with a face on you. Would you ever lighten up, you feckin' eejit?"

He looked back at her and narrowed his eyes. "You're doing that thing where you use your foreign-ness against me…"

Jamie sighed and prepared to translate her last sentence.

"You are sitting there frowning and I think you are a fucking idiot. Concise enough for you?" she asked. Clint smiled sickeningly at her.

"Very. Thank you." He watched as she tried to keep up her berating look and then crack a crooked smile.

"I'm going to look at the song choices, grumpy drawers." And with that she got up to go to the jukebox, brushing her brown hair off her face.

Clint couldn't help but smile at her as she went. He went back to watching the group before him; it seemed Bruce and Natasha were having a dance-off. The winner was actually tough to call.

* * *

 _11.25 PM_

Suddenly, Clint heard a squeal.

" _Clint! Clint, they have it! They have it, Clint!"_ Jamie was now punching his shoulder with delight. Clint struggled to get hold of her arms and struggled further to stop himself from laughing at this enthusiastic Jamie.

"What do they have?" he asked calmly. Jamie jumped up and down excitedly. Clint found it hard to believe this was a twenty-something woman standing in front of him, opposed to a six year old.

"Only the greatest Christmas song ever! _The Fairy-tale of New York_!" she exclaimed. The name was familiar but Clint couldn't find the actual song in his memory.

"I don't know the song. I know the name, not how it goes," he informed her. This did little to dampen her spirits but excited her further. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her. Jamie marched up to the jukebox, Clinton dragging behind her. She jabbed her finger at one song in particular.

"How can you not know that one?" she asked. A voice sounded behind them.

"What one?" Steve asked, his arm around Natasha's shoulders. He had a pointy green hat on with elf ears to boot. Natasha still had her Santa hat on and, like Stark, was wearing tinsel around her neck, unlike Stark, her tinsel was green and seemed to match Steve's get up

" _The Fairy-tale of New York_!" Jamie said. Steve smiled.

"I love that one!" he exclaimed. "My mom used to play it every Chrismas!"

Natasha told them she also knew it. Jamie turned back to Clint and belted him on the back of his head.

"See? They know it, you ignoramus! Well, you'll know it after this, anyway. It has probably the best line of any Christmas song of all time," she said as she pushed a quarter into the machine and selected the song she wanted. Jamie then turned back to him, and guiltily asked if his head was okay.

"Sorry. I just got a bit flustered there," she said. Clint chuckled and massaged his head.

"Yeah, you don't say?"

Beside Jamie and Clint, Steve and Natasha were having their own conversation.

"Please do it, Steve," Nat pleaded. He looked sternly at her.

"No."

"It coming on," she said in a sing-song voice. Steve seemed to sway. When he looked at her next, Natasha could tell she had broken him down. She laughed and yelled at everyone.

"Everyone, shut the eff up, Steve's gonna sing!" she shouted. Steve looked suddenly alarmed as everyone turned toward him cheering.

"I'm not doing it alone. Song's a duet."

Natasha shrugged. "I don't know the words."

Clint felt a lightbulb appear over his head. "Jamie does."

Jamie turned to him, eyes narrowed. "Fuck you." He smiled at her nonetheless.  
"But you'll do it?" he asked. Jamie sighed and looked at him under her brow, before eventually nodding. Cheers went up from the others and Clint immediately pressed play on the jukebox.

Steve picked up his pint and took a swig just as the song started. His friends made circle around him as the sound of a piano rang through the air.

" _It was Christmas Eve, babe,  
In the drunk tank  
An old man said to me,  
Won't see another one,  
And then he sang a song;  
_The Rare Old Mountain Dew…"

Steve's smooth voice went strangely well with the song and every single person began clapping for him.

" _I turned my face away,  
And dreamed about you."_

He turned toward Natasha, who was now sitting on a bar stool and sang the two lines to her with a small smile. Natasha smiled back and Steve saw a dash of pink spread through her cheeks. He turned back to the rest as he sang on.

" _Got on a lucky one,  
Came in eighteen to one.  
I've got a feeling,  
This year's for me and you.  
So happy Christmas,  
I love you, baby,  
I can see a better time  
When all our dreams come true…"_

The song began to take off and Clint could tell Jamie's part was coming up. She looked at him for help and Clint smiled reassuringly at her before pushing her into the middle of the circle. She bumped into Steve's back and a cheer went up from the group. Jamie manged ton recover quickly for her first line.

" _ **They've got cars  
Big as bars,  
They've got rivers of gold.  
But the wind goes right through you,  
It's no place for the old…"**_

Jamie's accent shone through much more than it usually did when she sang, and Clint thought maybe it was her accent that helped to make it even more enjoyable. He was beginning to remember the song now and a quick glance over at Tasha told him she was remembering too.

" _ **When you first took my hand  
On a cold Christmas Eve,  
You promised me  
Broadway was waiting for me…"**_

She turned toward Steve and sang at him. He laughed and played along.

" _ **You were handsome-**_ _  
You were pretty,  
Queen of New York City.  
_ _When the band finished playing,  
They howled out for more.  
Sinatra was swinging,  
All the drunks they were singing,  
We kissed on the corner,  
Then danced through the night…"_

Steve threw an arm around Jamie's shoulder and she threw an arm around his shoulders, though it was a little harder considering he well over 6 foot. Clint smiled. He could remember all the words now and had formulated plan he was going to put into action. By the looks of her, Natasha had too.

" _The boys of the NYPD choir,  
Were singing 'Galway Bay'.  
And the bells are ringing,  
Out for Christmas day!"_

During the brief interlude, Clint and Nat nodded at each other before launching themselves into the circle. The faces of the two people already there lit up with the newcomers appearance. Steve twirled Natasha around and Clint replaced Steve's arm around Jamie. Clint knew the next lines and laughed when Jamie pushed away from him to sing with a sly smile. Clint caught on and strode opposite her. His rough voice was perfect for the song.

" _ **You're a bum,  
You're a punk-**_  
 _You're an old slut on junk  
Living there almost dead  
On a drip in that bed…"_

Jamie smiled and moved closer to him, pointing a finger at him. Clint smiled too and help up his arms.

" **You scum bag,  
You maggot,  
You cheap lousy f*gg*t.  
Happy Christmas your arse,  
I pray God,  
It's our last.**

 _The boys of the NYPD choir,  
Still singing 'Galway Bay'.  
And the bells are ringing  
Out for Christmas day!"_

Clint and Jamie bowed out of the way for Steve and Natasha as the small crowd cheered. The song slowed down for their part. They looked at each in a way very different from the other two. Steve held Nat's hand as he sang.

" _I could have been someone-  
_ _ **Well, so could anyone,  
You took my dreams  
From me when I first found you.**_ _  
I kept them with me babe,  
I put them with my own.  
Can't make it all alone,  
I've built my dreams around you…"_

Steve pulled her closer by the hand and sang to her. In the short break before the next lines, he stooped down and kissed her quickly. The crowd whooped, cheered and Tony, Rhodey and Sam whistled.

" _The boys of the NYPD choir  
Still singing 'Galway Bay'  
And the bells are ringing  
Out for Christmas day."_

* * *

 _11.45 PM_

There was a snowball fight. At twenty-five to twelve at night, twelve fully grown adults were having a snowball fight outside a bar. It was currently girls against boys and Natasha was working it. She nailed both Tony and Bruce square in the chest and then hurled a snowball at Steve. Pepper and Darcy had teamed up and had a very good supply and delivery system going, with Pepper assembling the snowballs and Darcy hurling them with all her might. Maria's competitive streak was coming out as she took on Sam, Bucky and Clint at once. Jamie was trying desperately not to fall over as white, cold missiles flew past her. The pavement was already icy and the snow made it harder to walk. She carefully waddled into cover behind a support in front of the front doors of _Cap's_. Her cover was technically in the guys' camp and she saw Clint reeling back his arm to throw at her. Jamie just glared at him.

"Try it, Yank. See where it gets you," she said, her breaths visible in the air. Clint smiled breathlessly and hesitated.

Unfortunately, his hesitation gave the other girls time to take aim at an easy target. In all, six snowballs hit him in the face-three from Nat, two from Darcy and Pepper and one from Maria. Clint stumbled blindly and fell on his backside right in front of Jamie. Breathing heavily and red cheeked and nosed, Clint looked up at the laughing Jamie.

"Inside?" he asked, nodding at the nearby door. Jamie nodded and they helped each other up and into the pub. Inside the door, Clint unwrapped his scarf, getting snow everywhere. Jamie rubbed her hands together to get some warmth into them. Clint watched her. Her cheek were all rosy and he could see little flakes of snow in the strands of hair that fell loose from her hat. He was unaware of how close they were standing until she glanced up at him. But Clint didn't want to back away and it seemed neither did Jamie. They could hear the others having snow filled fun outside in the cold. Inside it was warm and silent.

"I wanna try something. But I don't want to…want to change anything between us, 'cause you know, you're one of my best friends…" Clint said quietly.

"Yeah, no-obviously," Jamie agreed, swallowing. "Best, best friends." She smiled crookedly, a gesture Clint returned. He looked down into her kind green-grey eyes. Clint inclined his head toward her and brushed her lips with his, then kissed her. Jamie had to stand on her tip-toes in order to kiss him back. Clint wrapped his arms around her waist as Jamie lifted her hands to his neck. He could taste the chocolate she had before the snowball fight broke out on her lips. They broke away and Clint watched a small smile spread across Jamie's face.

Suddenly, they heard the clock in the corner toll for midnight. Jamie looked back up at Clint.

"Merry Christmas," he said. She smiled.

"Nollaig Shona," Jamie replied in a strange, flowing language. Clint was lost.

"What?"

She chuckled quietly. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

 **Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

 **Nollaig Shona Duit! (Means Merry Christmas to you in Irish. Pronounced: Null-ig Hun-a Dit.)**

 **Song used:** _ **Fairy-tale of New York**_ **by The Pogues and Kirsty McCall.** _  
_


End file.
